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Vicki Vale
Vicki Vale, born as Victoria Arkham and also known as Lady Arkham, is the main antagonist of Batman: The Telltale Series. A terrorist dedicating herself to exposing Gotham's corrupt and taking control of the city, she was the leader of the Children of Arkham and the first challenge faced by Batman. Employed as reporter for the Gotham Gazette, she became a false ally for Bruce Wayne. Biography Born Victoria Arkham, Vicki was adopted by the Vales after her parents were murdered by Thomas Wayne and Mayor Hamilton Hill, for objecting to their use of the family's mental hospital to illegally declare others insane with the use of drugs and then locked them away for the rest of their lives. While Vicki was under the care of the Vales, they abused her constantly for seemingly no other reason outside of sadistic pleasure, which ranged from beatings to being kept in a torture chamber for days on end, a fate that befell countless, other foster children. Vicki claimed that the only reason that she had managed to survive the abuse was due to her lust for vengeance upon her foster parents, the Wayne Family, and all of Gotham City. Despite her traumatic upbringing, Vicki grew into a highly intelligent and accomplished woman, and eventually secured a position at the Gotham Gazzette as its star reporter, which was complimented with a reputation of her continuously seeking out the truth. However, Vicki's rage continued to worsen over the years, which culminated in her elaborate plans for revenge on the corruption of Gotham and her ascension into power as the leader of a group, known as The Children of Arkham. While The Children of Arkham was previously a peaceful political movement that was formed to seek out justice for those who were wrongly committed to Arkham Asylum, its message ultimately fell on deaf ears until Vicki used her resources and intellect and reformed the group into a powerful terrorist organization, adopted its symbol as her own and christened herself,"Lady Arkham", an identity that she formed when she was locked within the Vales' makeshift torture chamber. In complete control over that reformed organization, Vicki greatly expanded their numbers though the use of her resources, which she used to locate other individuals whose relatives had been wrongfully committed to Arkham Asylum, researched them extensively, and determined if their loved ones were truly sick or were simply innocent victims to Thomas Wayne's power-hungry designs. Those people included Oswald Cobblepot, who had plans of his own for revenge on the Wayne Family that Vicki had promised to help facilitate, and Roland Desmond, who eventually became Penguin's right-hand man. Cobblepot's ties to the criminal underworld gave Vicki direct access into that same landscape within Gotham's dark underside, and allowed for additional resources and criminals to perform her dirty work. Vicki became an inspiring figure for the Children of Arkham and her new identity as Lady Arkham gave rise to a new movement that would rock Gotham off its foundations, starting with the Wayne Family, and continue until the entire city was engulfed in complete and utter chaos. Lady Arkham's plans aspired not only to target and murder corrupt individuals who were involved within the Arkham Asylum Conspiracy, but enable the Children of Arkham to become the ruling elite within Gotham, including its criminal underworld, political domains, and business conglomerates, and allow them not only revenge upon those who had wronged them, but also the potential to secure their own futures and wipe Gotham clean of all those that they deemed unworthy and then broaden their scope to the world and beyond. "Realm of Shadows" Vicki first met Bruce Wayne and Harvey Dent at a fundraiser at Wayne Manor. During their conversation, Vicki noticed blood on Bruce's collar, which the player could brush off as either a cut from shaving, spilled wine or lipstick. Upon seeing Carmine Falcone enter Wayne Manor, she became suspicious that Dent's campaign may have been soliciting votes from him and his organization. She was also among the guests that noticed if Bruce either shook Falcone's hand or refused to. Vicki was also among the reporters in the press conference where Bruce and Harvey announced the "Thomas and Martha Wayne Mental Hospital". She was the only reporter who asked a question about what plans there were for the old Arkham Asylum. She later met Bruce after the press conference, which ended with the allegations of the Wayne's corruption. She offered to help Bruce in the public eye, by giving a quote about these rumors. Bruce agrees to give a quote, choosing between saying that his family is innocent, justice will be served or claiming the story is just pure fiction. Whichever the player chooses, Vicki will remember it and the quote will be used in the episode conclusion. Bruce refuses to give a quote and shows Vicki out. If the player chooses this, rumors about Bruce's links to organized crime may appear stronger to the public's eye. While being shown out, Vicki reassured Bruce that he'd beat those, and claimed that the Waynes always did. After Bruce finished his decryption of Mayor Hill's drive, which contained enough data to incriminate Falcone, and he decided to release it, the player could choose to release it to Lieutenant James Gordon or Vicki, whom Alfred suggested. If Bruce chose Vicki, she would thank him for it, and considered it would take down Falcone and improve her career. However, she did show some concern for her own safety, which Bruce could either offer her some tips or protection. Vicki also asked whether exposing Falcone would help the city, with Bruce either suggesting Batman (a symbol), Gordon (fixing the police force) or Dent (stamping crime out of City Hall). Vicki then departed, and released the evidence to all media outlets. "Children of Arkham" Vicki later appeared at the GCPD, shortly after she heard the news about Falcone's murder. It was possible that she was the one who drugged Sgt. Renee Montoya and coerced her into murdering Falcone. When Vicki noticed Bruce leaving the scene, she tried to converse with him and collect information about the mob boss's murder. Bruce either gave her information about the murder or left without telling her anything. At some point before the debate, Vicki filmed a video as Lady Arkham, and demanded that the citizens of Gotham fight the corrupted and take control of Gotham. She, along with Penguin, Blockbuster, and other members of the Children of Arkham attacked the debate between Hill and Dent. She hid among the reporters at the debate and faked being taken hostage in order to avoid suspicion. After it was attacked by the Children of Arkham, Vicki was "forced" onto the stage by Blockbuster and held at gunpoint by the Penguin, who made her "host" the event. When Batman finally intervened, Vicki took the opportunity to escape and elbowed Penguin in the face before she tried to flee. However, Penguin shot at Vicki in retaliation, only for Batman to shield her from the gunfire and threw a Batarang at him, which made him cease fire. Batman told Vicki to run, which she obeyed without question. It could be assumed that she made it to safety before the GCPD were able to interfere. "New World Order" Following their attack at the debate, Vicki ordered a group of the Children of Arkham to collect a batch of chemicals, which she planned to use to create more of their chemical weapon for a mass attack in Gotham's busiest area: Mercy Street Station. She also sent the Children of Arkham members to attack the newly appointed Mayor Dent and Penguin to infiltrate Wayne Enterprises, which allowed them access to the company's resources and financially support them, during their operations. Vicki also created a false article in the Gotham Gazette, where she interviewed "The leader of the Children of Arkham", possibly to draw the attention of Batman. Should that have been the case, it succeeded, as she was later contacted at work by Batman. Vicki asked to meet him at Cobblepot Park and waited there after work. As they had agreed, Batman showed up, but tried to gather information about the group and where she had conducted the interview. Though reluctant to do so at first, Vicki decided to give him one of their bases of operations. As Lady Arkham, she rendezvoused with the thief Catwoman, who had been hired by Penguin to steal information from Hill, and a group of her men to obtain a component for an upgraded Arkham drug. Upon arriving at the Sky Rail Depot, where she base of operations she had given to Batman, she held Catwoman as a hostage, threatening to inject her with a lethal dose if the vigilante didn't show himself. However, Catwoman broke free and the duo took down her men. As Batman tried to disable the monorail used to disperse the drug, Lady Arkham tried to stop him. Despite being able to defeat him in combat, intervention from Catwoman led to her being defeated by Batman. As the monorail was destroyed, Lady Arkham, in a fit of rage, blasted a lose cable to electrocute Batman, using this as a distraction for her escape. As Vicki, she appeared at the Wayne Enterprises press conference announcing Bruce Wayne's resignation. As Bruce left the stage, she joined and congratulated him for his speech. However, during the conversation, Vicki took the opportunity to drug Bruce in retribution for her family's fate. Revealing her identity to him, she coerced him into attacking Cobblepot, how had been given his position as CEO. Unable to fight off the effects of the drug, Bruce attacked him, landing him a sentence to Arkham Asylum. "Guardian of Gotham" After the event, Vicki went into hiding, though was reported missing by the Gazette. However, in secret, Vicki, needing a new place to store the Arkham drug, decided to use her foster father's heating company warehouse. Arriving at her foster parent's home, she attacked and brutally murdered them, leaving her her foster brother alive and in hiding. After ensuring that they had access to the warehouses, Vicki and Penguin learnt that Batman's computer network was linked to Wayne Enterprises' tech. She ordered him to take over the network and cripple Batman's operations, as she planned for her final goal: the Liberation of Arkham Asylum. When Batman arrived at her foster parent's home, following a tip from a patient at Arkham, he discovered the crime scene and alerted Gordon. When they arrived, Batman, secretly Wayne, revealed that Vicki was Lady Arkham to the GCPD and that she was using her foster father's warehouse to store her drugs. This was destroyed by Dent, who had now been driven insane by the dosage he had received. "City of Lights" After learning that Bruce Wayne had been released from Arkham, Vicki decided to take retribution on his butler Alfred Pennyworth. Arriving at Wayne Manor, she and her men, after a brief struggle, captured him and left an IP address for a server. Taking Alfred to her parent's foster home, she filmed a message for Bruce and forced the butler to suffer the way she had at her foster parent's hands. With her men, she took control of Arkham Asylum, holding the staff hostage and, using Wayne tech codes acquired by the now arrested Penguin, set up to release the prisoners in the Asylum. She also moved Pennyworth the old ruins of the Asylum, where she prepared for Batman's arrival. When the vigilante arrived, she brushed off all attempts to step down quietly and released the inmates. With help from the GCPD, Batman managed to take down most the inmates. As Lady Arkham fled to the catacombs, Batman tried to capture her in the food hall, breaking her mask in the process, but was stopped by Victor Zsasz. Confronting her in one of the cells, Batman tried to negotiate Alfred's return, but Vicki used her staff to blast the floor underneath him, dropping him into the catacombs. She tried to justify her actions to Batman, insisting they were the same and that she had helped Gotham, but the vigilante still refused to let her go. After locating Alfred in one of the old chambers, Batman tried to free him, unaware that Vicki was listening. Interfering, she realized that Batman had a close connection to the butler, as he referred to him in a first name basis, and threated to kill him unless he unmasked himself. Batman will be given the choice to either attack her or unmask himself Batman chooses to free Alfred, throwing a batarang him from his restraints. The butler attacks Vicki, but loses his eye when she fires her staff at him. Batman decides to unmask himself, revealing that he is Bruce Wayne to Vicki. Having seen Batman as a selfless character and Bruce as an selfish playboy, Vicki goes into brief denial before coming to the conclusion that he has been using the Batman persona to attack the weak and defenceless in Gotham. Despite Bruce's objections, she attacks him with her staff, blasting off a chunk of his ear. Using her weapons and fighting skills, Vicki attacked Batman/Bruce, hoping to kill him and take her revenge. During this, they damaged the chamber's supports, causing it to start to collapse. Vicki also broke her staff in the process. As rubble fell from above them, Vicki, using her hover boots, tried one last time to kill Batman, but was blasted aside when the vigilante used her own staff against her. As Batman and Alfred fled, Vicki tried to escape through the catacombs, leaving some departing words to the former. However, the exit that she used was blocked by falling debris, with more falling above where she stood. Unable to react quickly, Vicki was apparently crushed by the rubble and believed to have been killed. Following Vicki's apparent death, the remaining members of the Children of Arkham and escaped patients were all rounded up by the GCPD. News reports would also report of Vicki's involvement as Lady Arkham, along with her defeat at Batman's hands, but no body was found, leading Batman to doubt whether she was truly gone for good. If Bruce chooses to attend the GCPD press conference as himself, he can announce that he will halt construction on a mental health hospital in memory of his parents to help renovate Arkham Asylum, in memory of her family and to help it recover from his father's actions. Batman: The Enemy Within Batman would go on to keep a display of Lady Arkham in the Batcave, which consisted of her broken mask and concussion staff. The Children of Arkham had also been completely disbanded, with many of its members now serving sentences in either Blackgate Prison or Arkham Asylum. Personality In her civilian identity, Vicki Vale was often seen as being very passive aggressive, often to collect information for her articles. However, due to the abuse she was put through as a child, she seemed to know only anger and hatred, which she would show as her identity of Lady Arkham. Though she hid it as her civilian identity, Vicki would often try to justify her actions, believing that she was always correct. Even after she discovered Wayne was Batman, she couldn't accept the playboy as a hero but as a vicious billionaire willing to hurt the defenceless of Gotham. While normally a composed individual, at least on the surface, when angered or injured she would fly into an almost berserker rage and would become far more brutal in her fighting methods destroying anything and everything in her way to kill her opponent and not caring about who gets in the way regardless of whether they are friend or foe. Vicki also was willing enough to put innocent bystanders in the way of her attacks, even planning to release the Arkham drug on Mercy Street to affect as many civilians as possible. Lady Arkham also showed much brutality, including the gruesome murder of her foster parents. However, the fact that she let her foster brother live shows that she may have been unwilling to harm children, meaning she probably had some boundaries she was unwilling to cross. Appearance As Lady Arkham, Vicki wore a costume inspired by a doll she created in her makeshift cell in the Vales' basement. This included a black leather jacket, with brown parts strips of leather, golden fastenings and a shoulder brace, black combat trousers, black gloves and hover boots. To protect her identity and provoke fear in her enemies, she wore a customised mask, fitted with a voice modulator and consisted of armoured plating. It's unclear how much protection Vicki had in her costume, but the mask was very brittle, breaking after one hit from Batman. Abilities Lady Arkham used a concussion staff, procured through unknown means. When activated, it would fire a strong sonic blast, which was capable of blasting objects backwards or, in some cases, incapacitating or killing a person. The staff's blast was powerful enough to puncture Batman's armor and damage hard materials like stone. Lady Arkham also used hover boots, as part of her costume. It is unknown about the precise technology within them, but they were capable of letting her hover in the air, fly to areas she could not reach, increase her speed whilst running and the strength of her kicks, whilst in combat. When in a physical confrontation, she would use both of these items with frightening proficiency and was a skilled physical combatant, being able to easily hold her own against the much more experienced Batman. She was surprisingly strong being able to attack and take out Batman in a one on one fight and seemed almost immune to pain, taking several hits that would've downed most other opponents. Despite her strong combat skills, Vicki's greatest trait was first and foremost her intellect. As Vicki Vale she was able to easily fool everyone for years into believing that she was a simple journalist in order to achieve her goals. She would use this persona to gather information on her enemies to use against them and was able to uncover files that had been buried for years. Suggesting that she was very skilled in the art of investigation. Her skill at manipulation was so great that she was even able to fool Batman. As Lady Arkham, she was shown to be a tactical genius, having a complete mastery of terrorist techniques and intimidation strategies. She came up with several complex plans that nearly ended in Gotham's complete destruction that likely would've succeeded had Batman not been just as intelligent. Killed Victims * Hamilton Hill - killed on her orders by her ally Cobblepot. * Carmine Falcone - killed on her orders by Cobblepot drugging Montoya * Patricia Vale - injected with a fatal dose of the drug and eyes gouged out * John Vale - beaten and hung with a belt Relationships Family * Mr. Arkham† - Father * Mrs. Arkham† - Mother * John Vale† - Adopted father, abuser and victim * Patricia Vale† - Adopted mother, abuser and victim * Unnamed Boy - Adopted brother Allies * Gotham Gazette - Former Employers * Children of Arkham ** Oswald Cobblepot/the Penguin - Part-ally ** Roland Desmond/Blockbuster - Part-Ally ** Mercenaries Enemies * Wayne Family ** Bruce Wayne/Batman - Former "ally" and enemy * Alfred Pennyworth - Torture victim * Selina Kyle/Catwoman - Former employee turned enemy * Hamilton Hill† - Enemy * Harvey Dent - Enemy and victim * Gotham City Police Department ** Peter Grogan† ** James Gordon ** Renee Montoya Gallery Appearances Trivia *In the Batman comics and most other media interpretations, Vicki is not a supervillain and is an occasional love interest for Bruce Wayne. Several other iterations have also deduced his identity as Batman. External Links Category:Characters Category:Criminals Category:Antagonists Category:Allies Category:Children of Arkham Category:Villains Category:Female Villains Category:Season 1 Characters Category:Secret Keepers Category:Main Villains Category:Gotham Residents Category:Deceased Category:Love Interests Category:Martial Artists Category:Vengeful Category:Psychopath Category:Bosses